This application claims the priority of German application 198 12 489.9-16, filed in Germany on Mar. 21, 1998, the disclosure of which is expressly incorporated by reference herein.
The invention relates to a device for ventilating a side window of a motor vehicle. Preferred embodiments of the invention relate to a passenger automobile with a vehicle door containing a window.
A ventilating device of the general type referred to above is known from German Patent Document DE-OS 26 36 640, in which a hollow space is formed in a panel of a vehicle side door, said space serving as an air guide channel of the ventilating device. In the panel, slit-like passageway openings are provided on an exterior associated with the side window of the door, through which openings air can flow out in the direction of the side window, said air having been introduced into the air guide channel, especially conditioned air. The panel that contains the air outlets constitutes a separate part installed to produce the known ventilating device instead of an otherwise conventional panel without outlet openings. The assembly process, especially as part of a conveyor belt assembly line, is therefore relatively cumbersome in design, since one or the other panel must be installed depending on the equipment package of the vehicle. In addition, the panel provided with the air openings must be manufactured extremely carefully since the air outlets considerably influence the overall visual impression made by the vehicle interior trim. To improve the visual impression, it is proposed for the known ventilating device to equip the passageway openings with aesthetically attractive separate covering elements, resulting in an additional increase in the cost of manufacturing such a panel.
An elastic sealing profile for enclosing in particular the lower edge of a motor vehicle window is known from German Patent Document DE-OS 21 22 690. Such a sealing profile can be used exclusively for window panes that cannot be lowered, for example a windshield or a rear window. A cavity is formed in the known sealing profile, said cavity being located below the window enclosed by the sealing profile on both sides in its marginal area. This channel communicates with a condensate-receiving gutter formed in the exterior of the sealing profile that faces the vehicle interior, making it possible to carry away water of condensation through appropriate lines. In addition, the channel obtained in the sealing profile is exposed to air which can flow against the lower part of the window because of the communicating connection between the channel and the receiving gutter for the condensate.
A problem addressed by the present invention is to design a ventilating device of the species recited at the outset in such fashion that it can be manufactured in simple fashion and in particular meets higher visual aesthetic requirements.
This problem is solved according to the invention by a ventilating device for ventilating a side window of a motor vehicle, especially an automobile, with an air guide channel that is located in a vehicle side component containing the side window, especially of a vehicle door, close to a lower area of the side window, with air outlets directed at the side window being located on this vehicle side component in an end area facing the side window, wherein the air guide channel is formed in a separate channel part which is mounted on or in the vehicle side component and contains air outlets which terminate in an area of a gap formed between the vehicle side component and side window.
The invention is based on the general idea of combining the air guide channel and the air outlets into one part that can be installed completely as a unit, so that assembly, for example in mass production, is considerably simplified. The outside of the vehicle side component that faces the vehicle interior does not have to be changed for the assembly arrangement. The flow of the air against the side window is made possible by a gap formed between the side component of the vehicle and the side window in which the air outlets of the air guide channel terminate. A gap of this kind as a rule is already present in conventional vehicle side components to receive sealing profiles or the like. The gap according to the invention used to direct flow against the side window therefore can be made available by simply omitting the sealing profile or the like, so that no redesign of the vehicle side component is required for the purpose.
In an advantageous embodiment, a sealing profile is located below the gap or below the outlets of the channel part in order to guarantee any sealing and/or stabilization of the side window that may be necessary.
On the basis of the arrangement of the outlets in the vicinity of the gap, proposed according to the invention, the air outlets are in an area that the vehicle occupant cannot see and that cannot adversely influence the visual and/or esthetic impression of the vehicle interior trim. The gap which itself is visible can be made with a relatively limited width and will be scarcely noticed, especially because of mirror effects in the vicinity of the side window, so that the advantageous impression of a seamless transition between the window and the vehicle part can result.
In manufacturing the channel part and/or its air outlets, therefore, no particular care or accuracy need be observed, so that the cost of manufacturing is considerably reduced.
In an advantageous embodiment of the ventilation device according to the invention, the channel part can penetrate the gap between the vehicle side component and the side window, and have a collar that covers a marginal area of the vehicle side component that borders the gap and faces the vehicle interior, with the air outlets then terminating in a gap area that is open toward the top and is formed between the channel part and the side window. With this measure, the air outlet area of the gap formed between the vehicle side component and the side window can be reduced, so that the flow velocities that can be produced can be increased to achieve a more efficient ventilation of the side window. Moreover, this allows the gap to be covered to the greatest extent possible in order to additionally improve the visual impression at the transitional area between the vehicle side component and the side window.
Preferably, the collar of the channel part can be designed as an edge trim strip so that even the highest esthetic demands can be met.
According to advantageous embodiments of the ventilating device according to the invention, the channel part can be located completely inside the vehicle side component, with the air outlets then being located below a marginal area of the vehicle component that abuts the gap and faces the vehicle interior. This measure utilizes the gap between the vehicle side component and the side window, which is present in any case, to ventilate the side window, making this embodiment especially economical.
According to another improvement on the ventilation device according to the invention, a sealing profile can be provided on the channel part that abuts the side window in a sealing fashion. By this measure, firstly a sufficient sealing of the side window can be ensured and secondly, with a sufficient pressure of the sealing profile against the side window, a stabilization and/or positioning of the side window can be achieved. This is especially significant when the side window is a side window that can be lowered.
In preferred embodiments of the ventilating device according to the invention, an outside wall of the channel part that faces the side window can be designed as a sealing profile that abuts the side window with a sealing action. An embodiment of this kind permits an efficient combination of several functional parts into structural elements that can be installed complete and which performs a plurality of functions, in this case: supplying air and producing a sealing effect.
In advantageous preferred embodiments of the device according to the invention, the channel part can communicate with an air supply that is connected to an air conditioning system of a motor vehicle and runs in the vehicle side component. These embodiments are especially advantageous if an air feed is already provided in a corresponding vehicle side part that serves for example to supply air to the rear of an automobile. The ventilating device according to the invention in this case can be connected especially simply to the existing air supply.